Category: Flood Defence
Exploration of different methods of flood defence, their function and effectiveness and how the sea treats flood defences installed in an attempt to dissipate the energy of the waves
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Henry David Thoreau, I to Myself, August 1851 The coastline of Norfolk and Suffolk is bearing the scars of the winter storms of 2024-2025, and this discussion will consider a few examples of the attrition of heavy rain and wave action. Including large slippages of cliff material at Overstrand in Norfolk, with a recent announcement…
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This discussion is the second of a series, to debate whether big events, such as surges or high waves, or smaller gradual processes, cause the most erosion. This second conversation will look at erosion at Hazelwood Marshes in the Alde and Ore Estuary and Sudbourne Beach on the open coast. These areas have been selected…
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In the lead-up to the two-year anniversary of alteredmarshes, a series of discussions will consider whether it is the big storm surge events that cause the most coastal erosion, or smaller processes that develop over a long period, that weaken flood defences and erode shingle and cliffs. The first of these discussions will consider The…
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In a brief continuation of the previous discussion about high waves and the effect on the coastline, photos below show the current state of the cliffs at Thorpeness, as they were on 14th April 2022. Multiple slippages can be seen from the cliff frontage, with the surface slumping and collapsing down to the beach at…
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Recent information from the Alde and Ore Community Partnership has found the remaining walls at Hazelwood marshes could be at new risk of erosion. This is due large volumes of tidal water forming waves, which when driven by northerly winds risk weakening the rear inland side of the walls. It is thought that there is…
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On the right-hand corner of Iken marshes, there is a freshwater marsh nature reserve, near Stanny House Farm, just below the Alde Mud Flats, on the Alde Ore Estuary. The reserve is home to Marsh Harriers and Lapwings, as well as Bearded Tits, which nest in the Reedbeds. It is on the right-hand side of…
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In a continuation of discussions about Sudbourne beach, south of the Martello Tower in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, consideration will be given to the current position of Sudbourne beach. Thanks to access granted by the Environment Agency, it has been possible to get a recent visual image of the dynamic interplay between the sea, the shingle ridge…
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Iken Cliff, near the Snape Maltings, in the Alde Ore estuary, is an area backed by sandy cliffs, fronted by reed beds and salting’s and boat moorings. One noticeable feature is the presence of breached flood defences. One cause of breaches in flood defences is a process known as desiccated cracking, which involves flood water…
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A selection of photos taken in February 2021 show the current landscape of Aldeburgh Marshes and Hazlewood marshes as well as the history of the scouring effects of the tidal surge in December 2013. The first photo shows the lasting affects of the scouring of the trees at the back of Hazlewood marshes, alongside the…
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This piece seeks to provide a brief update to a previous piece on Sudbourne Beach, which is a shingle spit south of Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast. A public consultation was held between 1 October – 30 November 2019 regarding the policy of the Coastal Partnerships East and East Suffolk Council Shoreline Management Plan (SMP)…
alteredcoast 